STATEMENT
Over the years, my work has come to focus on a contemplative practice allied with the urgency of environmental needs. Phenomenology and nature; how we relate to the natural world with our senses, what emotions they provoke. Texture, colour, tone, rhythm, patterns, shapes; feelings of calm, belong, home. Different scales, perspectives of observation: the astonishing variety of nature. Watercolour has the appropriate smoothness, fluidity and delicacy for representing nature's essence; to create forms that can appear sometimes solid, sometimes thin and delicate as air.
My work celebrates nature’s generosity and creativity, the beauty and well being it allows. I seek to create with meaning, allowing an emotional appeal that connects people with nature, inspiring for behavioural change and a wiser use of environmental resources, for generations to come.
BIOGRAPHY
I grew up surrounded by the tranquillity of Ria Formosa landscapes in southern Portugal, which have inspired me ever since. I studied Product Design, and later earned my PhD in Public Space and Urban Regeneration in Barcelona, where I experienced working across disciplines and cultures, while influenced by designer Victor Papanek and architect Peter Zumthor. Throughout time, art has remained a practice from which I make sense of the world. Fascinated by its possibilities of expression and enquiry, with my work I aim to emotionally touch, inform and inspire towards a balanced relationship with nature.
I was a researcher at the University of Barcelona and professor at the University of Porto. I am the author of several scientific articles on culture and urban regeneration; with Isabel Carvalho and Pedro Nora, edited the book The economy of the artist, published by Braço de Ferro in 2010. My work was exhibited at several public spaces of Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon and Azores (as a co-author, and part of Experimentadesign), Pontevedra's Pazo de Cultura, Guimarães Arts Laboratory, among others. I was awarded the 3rd urban furniture prize of Antwerp City Council (co-author) and the 2nd illustration prize of Matosinhos City Council. My work was funded by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Rectory of the University of Porto (Portugal), Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and by Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. After living in Antwerp and then, in Barcelona for many years, I'm currently living and working in Portugal.
UPCOMING / CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
GROUP
2020/21 Crafted & curated. Through objects. Online
SOLO
2020/21 Inhabit the body, live the place. CCV. Faro. Portugal
PAST SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
GROUP
2011 Nas Margens. Almada City Museum. Portugal (as researcher of CRPolis)
2008 Proxecto Edición. Pontevedra Cultural Centre. Spain
2007 A Casa é Sincera, by Isabel Carvalho. Guimarães Arts Laboratory. Portugal
2003 Voyager 03, ExperimentaDesign Biennale. Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon and Azores (w/ S’A architects)
2000 Objectos En/Inviáveis. Caldeira 213, Porto. Portugal
1999 Matosinhos City Council Exhibition Hall, Matosinhos. Portugal
1999 Havenhuis, Antwerp. Belgium (coauthor)
FUNDING & AWARDS
2020 Ministry of Culture. Portugal
2009/13 Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT). Portugal
2011 University of Barcelona Research Commission. Spain
2009 Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and University of Porto. Portugal
2000/03 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Spain
1999/00 Portuguese Design Centre. Portugal
1999 2nd Prize, National Illustration Award, Matosinhos City Council. Portugal
1999 3rd Prize (co-author), Urban Furniture Award, Antwerp Port Entity and Antwerp City Council. Belgium
TEACHING & RESEARCH
2009/14 University of Barcelona. Spain | Researcher at CRPolis, Art, City, Sustainability, University of Barcelona
2007/08 University of Porto. Portugal | Invited Assistant Professor (Project), Master in Art & Design in Public Space, Faculty of Fine Arts
LECTURES & PRESENTATIONS
2011 MUDE, Lisbon. Portugal
2011 Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon. Portugal
2010 Fine Arts Faculty, University of Barcelona. Spain
2009 Fine Arts Faculty, University of Barcelona. Spain
2008 Fine Arts Faculty, University of Porto. Portugal
PUBLICATIONS
BOOK AUTHOR
2020 Odyssey (poetry - to be published)
2009 The Economy of the Artist. Porto: Braço de Ferro (editor, w/Carvalho, I. and Nora, P.)
CHAPTERS & ARTICLES
2020 Artists & Climate Change. New York: The Artic Circle (poetry - online)
2015 AACA Digital - Asociación Aragonesa de Críticos de Arte. Zaragoza, Spain (scientific paper)
2015 On the Waterfront. University of Barcelona, Spain (scientific paper)
2009 Archaeology of the urban. Fine Arts Faculty of Porto University, Portugal (book chapter)
2014 On the Waterfront. University of Barcelona, Spain (w/Brandão, A; Castillo, M; Padilla, S.; Pinto, A; Salas, X; Sasa, Z.) (scientific paper)
2011 On the Waterfront. University of Barcelona, Spain (scientific paper)
2011 A Rua de Todos. Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Spain (scientific paper)
2011 VI CIPED, International Congress in Design Research. Architecture Faculty, University of Lisbon , Portugal (scientific paper)
2009 On the Waterfront. University of Barcelona, Spain (scientific paper)
2009 Jornal de Notícias. Portugal (newspaper article)
2008 A Casa é Sincera. Porto: Braço de Ferro (book chapter)
2007 Wanda. Porto: Braço de Ferro (book chapter)
2008 Jornal de Notícias. Portugal (newspaper article)
2005 Arq./a, Revista de arquitetura e arte, Lisbon (specialised press article)
2001 Mutate&Survive. Cascais: Chili com Carne (book chapter)
2000 Public space and Interdisciplinarity. Lisbon: Portuguese Design Centre (book chapter)